US5147324A - Prefilled syringe delivery system - Google Patents

Abstract

A prefilled syringe with a permanent cylindrical needle guard extending beyond the tip of the needle is disclosed. The needle guard is integral with the syringe holder so as to provide no exposure, selective or otherwise, of the needle. A removable needle guard is further provided. A tubing set is provided with a puncture port which fits in a liquid-tight manner into the cylindrical needle guard. The tubing set further includes anti-siphoning means and low volume tubing.

Description

This is a divisional of copending application Ser. No. 07/280,368 filed on Dec. 6, 1988, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates, in general, to an integrated delivery system using a prefilled syringe. In particular, the present invention relates to the use of a permanently protected needle in such a system.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In the art of medical syringes, it is well known to provide a protected needle which is selectively exposed for a limited period for injection before being returned to a protected state. This protected state of the needle allows the syringe to be easily handled by medical personnel with reduced risk of accidental injury, injection and subsequent infection from an exposed needle. However, such syringes are still hazardous in that they may be mishandled by medical personnel so that a needle is inadvertently exposed leading to the possibility of such accidental injury, injection and infection.

Examples of these syringes are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,693,708 and 4,681,567. The U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,708 discloses a cylindrical housing of the needle guard which extends and retracts with respect to the syringe barrel. The U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,567 patent discloses a slidably mounted sheath which acts as a needle guard.

Moreover, it is well-known in the prior art to use a sealed hypodermic syringe. An example of such a syringe is found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,825,003.

Further, in the prior art, it is well known to use a prefilled syringe to deliver medicine or pharmaceutical product to separate medical apparatus for subsequent infusion into the patient. However, in order to be compatible with a wide range of apparatus, and possibly due to an ill-considered decision to borrow from the art of syringes which are used for direct injection into a patient (which fundamentally must provide an exposed needle to allow for direct injection), these prefilled syringes have typically included a needle which is either permanently exposed or selectively exposed.

This permanent or selective exposure of the needle leads to two disadvantages.

Firstly, the exposed needle is dangerous to medical personnel.

Secondly, the exposed needle typically has no means for guiding the needle into a small insertion area of the aforementioned separate medical apparatus. Inaccurate insertion of the needle into the medical apparatus can result in contamination of the needle, damage to the needle or to the apparatus or injury to the user. A good example of such an apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,232,669. This apparatus includes a needle which is protected by a protective sheath and a removable protective cap. In order to use this device, the cap is removed which exposes the needle beyond the protection of the detachable protective sheath.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a prefilled syringe wherein the needle is permanently shielded.

It is therefore a further object of the present invention to provide a prefilled syringe which includes a means for guiding the needle accurately into other medical apparatus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a prefilled syringe delivery system which includes a prefilled syringe with a needle permanently protected by a cylindrical guard which extends beyond the tip of the needle. The open end of the cylindrical guard serves as a guide for a puncture port to be accurately positioned with respect to the needle.

The puncture port leads to tubing which includes an anti-siphoning means and means for connection to other apparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 discloses a side plan view of the prefilled syringe with the plunger at its withdrawn position, the piston screwably removed from the plunger, and a needle sheath over the needle.

FIG. 2 discloses a side plan view of the prefilled syringe with the plunger at its withdrawn position, the piston screwably inserted into the plunger and the needle sheath removed.

FIG. 3 discloses a cross-sectional view alongsection 3--3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 discloses a side plan view of the prefilled syringe with the puncture port inserted over the needle.

FIG. 5 discloses a side plan view of the tubing set of the apparatus, with a Luer® connector shown in phantom under the puncture port.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein like numerals refer to like elements throughout the several views,apparatus 10 is disclosed in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Syringe 12, which contains the pharmaceutical product, is held withinsyringe holder 14. Syringe 12 is preferably made of breakage resistant glass whilesyringe holder 14 is made of plastic or some similar material which is resistant to breakage.Needle hub 16 is attached tosyringe 12 and, in turn, is attached to needle 18 (See FIG. 3). The connections betweensyringe 12 andhub 16 and betweenhub 16 andneedle 18 are, of course, liquid-tight.

Thesyringe holder 14 engages the outer curved cylindrical surface ofsyringe 12 withopen portions 20 separated by astem 22 in the intermediate portion thereof. This allows the user to grasp firmly either thesyringe 12 or thesyringe holder 14.

As shown more clearly in FIG. 3, thesyringe holder 14 further engages theneedle hub 16 with alip 24 as well as surface 25 which allow thesyringe 12 andsyringe holder 14 to be rotatable about one another while preventing any longitudinal movement of thesyringe 12 with respect to thesyringe holder 14.

Needle guard 26 is integrally formed on the proximate end ofsyringe holder 14 in the shape of a cylinder with theneedle 18 as its longitudinal axis. Theneedle guard 26 extends from the proximate face ofneedle hub 16 to beyond the tip of aneedle 18.Needle 18 is therefore permanently protected and not exposed asneedle guard 26 is integral withsyringe holder 14 andlip 24 working together with surface 25 prevents any relative longitudinal movement ofsyringe 12 andsyringe holder 14.

Apparatus 10 further includes aneedle sheath 28 which covers theneedle 18 to provide further safety during transportation (See FIG. 1) but is removed during use (See FIG. 2).

The distal end ofsyringe holder 14 includes outwardly extendingannular flanges 30 which serve as finger grips.

Aplunger rod 32 is engaged through the distal end of thesyringe 12. Piston 36 is comprised of arubber plunger 34 and aplunger rod 32. Rubberplunger 34 engages the interior ofsyringe 12 is a liquid-tight but slidable manner.Plunger rod 32 includes a male threaded portion 38 on its proximate end which engages a female threaded portion (not shown) ofrubber plunger 34 and aflat handle portion 40 on its distal end.

The female threaded portion of therubber plunger 34 allows theplunger rod 32 to be disassembled during transportation, even ifapparatus 10 is filled with pharmaceutical product, thereby resulting in a more compact package which is not as susceptible to inadvertent movement and loss of the pharmaceutical product.

In order to useapparatus 10 effectively, tubing set 41 as disclosed in FIG. 5 is supplied. Tubing set 41 includes ananti-siphoning check valve 42, such as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,820, and aninput stem 43 leading tocylindrical input 44.Cylindrical input 44 has a diameter just less than the internal diameter ofneedle guard 26. During operation,check valve 42 has a positive crack pressure to help prevent uncontrolled syringe emptying. A tamper-resistant disk 45 surroundsanti-siphoning check valve 42 and includes anannular hub 46 which serves as a manual grip for tubing set 41.Disk 45 further forms a mechanical interference with the housing of a syringe pump (not shown) to help prevent tampering or inadvertent disconnection.Cylindrical input 44 includes arubber puncture port 48 which serves as an injection site and further serves as a sterile connection prior to injection byneedle 18.Low volume tubing 50 extends fromcheck valve 42 to a lowerLuer® connector 52 which is covered by aprotective cap 54. In its preferred embodiment,tubing 50 is ninety-six inches long, resulting in a priming volume of 2.1 milliliters for the tubing set 41. LowerLuer® connector 52 provides a means for attachment to secondary medical devices (not shown) or to a direct injection needle (not shown) for direct infusion into the patient.

Thecylindrical input 44 may be screwably removed fromanti-siphoning check valve 42 to expose a Luer® lock connector 56 on the end ofstem 43 in order to adapt the tubing set 41 to a standard Luer® lock syringe (not shown).

In order to useapparatus 10, the user should firstly be skilled in aseptic technique and accepted IV (intravenous) practice.Syringe 12 is ordinarily provided prefilled with pharmaceutical product or medicine from the manufacturer or from a central location in the medical facility. The user screwsplunger rod 32 intorubber plunger 34 so as to form apiston 36. The user removesneedle guard 28. The user pushes thepiston 36 to expel all air from thesyringe 12. The user may wish to use antiseptic to sterilizepuncture port 48. The user holdsannular hub 46 ofdisk 45 and guides thecylindrical input 44 and punctureport 48 of tubing set 41 into the interior ofneedle guard 26. Further, ascylindrical input 44 and punctureport 48 are positioned inneedle guard 26 prior to insertion ofneedle 18 throughpuncture port 48,needle 18 is accurately positioned againstpuncture port 48 prior to insertion. Whenneedle 18 is inserted throughpuncture port 48, a liquid-proof engagement is formed betweenapparatus 10 and tubing set 41. The user removesprotective cap 54 from lowerLuer® connector 52 and lower Luer® connector is connected to either a direct injection needle (not shown) or to another medical device (not shown). The user pushes thepiston 36 to expel all air from thesyringe 12 and tubing set 41. The user inserts thesyringe holder 14 andpiston 36 into a medical pump (not shown) and makes the appropriate connection to the patient. The user then activates the medical pump.

In some rare applications not involving direct infusion into patients, the user may dispense with the medical pump anduse piston 36 to manually inject the medicine or pharmaceutical product into another medical device (not shown).

Thus the several aforementioned objects and advantages are most effectively attained. Although a single preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed and described in detail herein, it should be understood that this invention is in no sense limited thereby and its scope is to be determined by that of the appended claims.

Claims (7)

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising:

a syringe having a barrel and a piston disposed therein;

a syringe holder engaging said syringe with the syringe being disposed within and embraced by the holder;

interconnecting surface means between the syringe and syringe holder for permitting the syringe and holder to be relatively rotatable while preventing any longitudinal disassociation of the syringe relative to the holder;

a needle with a tip extending from said syringe and including a passage for flow of liquid from said syringe through said needle in response to pushing said plunger longitudinally through said syringe; and

a needle guard substantially permanently attached to and formed integrally with said syringe holder and extending beyond the tip of said needle, said needle guard being formed integrally with said syringe holder, the needle guard being a hollow cylindrical shape with said needle extending along a portion of a longitudinal axis of said needle guard, said syringe being prefilled, a tubing set with a puncture port means of a diameter equal to an interior diameter of said needle guard whereby when said puncture port means is inserted into said needle guard a liquid-proof connection is formed between said puncture port means and said needle, said tubing set including anti-siphoning means leading from said puncture port means, said puncture portion means being removable from said anti-siphoning means in order to expose a female lock connector.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said tubing set includes tubing leading from said anti-siphoning means.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said tubing leads from said anti-siphoning means to a male connector.

4. An apparatus comprising:

a syringe having a barrel and a piston disposed therein;

a syringe holder engaging said syringe with the syringe being disposed within and embraced by the holder;

interconnecting surface means between the syringe and syringe holder for permitting the syringe and holder to be relatively rotatable while preventing any longitudinal disassociation of the syringe relative to the holder;

a needle with a tip extending from said syringe and including a passage for flow of liquid from said syringe through said needle in response to pushing said plunger longitudinally through said syringe; and

a needle guard substantially permanently attached to and formed integrally with said syringe holder and extending beyond the tip of said needle, said needle guard being formed integrally with said syringe holder, the needle guard being a hollow cylindrical shape with said needle extending along a portion of a longitudinal axis of said needle guard, said syringe being prefilled, a tubing set with a puncture port means of a diameter equal to an interior diameter of said needle guard whereby when said puncture port means is inserted into said needle guard a liquid-proof connection is formed between said puncture port means and said needle, said puncture port means being removable from said tubing set in order to expose a female lock connector.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said tubing set includes anti-siphoning means leading from said puncture port means.

6. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said tubing set includes tubing leading from said puncture port means.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said tubing leads from said puncture port means to a male connector.

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